Public Information Office

BSO's Public Information Office prepares news releases, co-ordinates print and broadcast coverage of agency events and acts as the liaison between BSO and the local, state and national media at crime scenes and other activities that generate media interest.

After-hours On-Call Policy

The Public Information Office is open Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. The office is closed on county holidays. After hours, emails and phone messages will be returned after 9 a.m. the following business day. The mediarelations@sheriff.org inbox is not monitored when the office is closed.

The Public Information Office staff strives to be responsive and professional, acting in compliance with the Florida Public Records Law and in the best interest of the agency, the news media, and the people of Broward County. Routine media inquiries and records requests are handled as expeditiously as possible during normal business hours.

After hours and on weekends, a public information officer is always on-call for emergencies and for significant breaking news events. The on-call staff member will generally not have information regarding non-fatal car crashes, routine arrests, crimes not resulting in death or critical injury or the status of cases being investigated by other agencies with BSO's assistance. Written records, including arrest affidavits and event reports, are not available on the weekend and are never disseminated from the jail.

On-call staff members should be contacted only in situations of high importance. Because the on-call staff member changes on a weekly basis, news media should call the Communications Duty Officer at 954-764-HELP (4357).

PLEASE NOTE: If you are seeking information about an incident that is NOT in one of the above areas, you must contact the PIO for the respective municipality/department. The BSFR PIO will not have information, nor release information, on calls in other jurisdictions.

For developing incidents, a PIO hotline has been established strictly for news media. The hotline number is 754-800-5111.

Please utilize the hotline only for developing/breaking incidents within BSFR service areas. If the PIO is not able to answer your call, leave a message that will be delivered via text so the PIO can respond as soon as practical. Twitter is the most efficient and expeditious tool to monitor information and updates on developing fire-rescue related incidents. Media interested in information about incidents sent from this handle should call the BSFR PIO at the phone numbers above.

Under Florida law, e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail address released in response to a public-records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.